Gay Civil Rights Supporters Deliver 1.4 Million Signatures to BScouts HQ
Opponents of a Boy Scouts policy that bans gay members and leaders present petitions calling for a change at the Scouts' national headquarters in Irving. (David Woo/Staff Photographer)
Staff Writer Scott K. Parks reports:
This morning, a group representing gay Boy Scouts and Scout leaders presented petitions urging the Boy Scouts of America to rescind its ban on gay members.
Those taking part in the presentation of signatures included Will Oliver, a 20-year-old gay Eagle Scout from Duxbury, Mass.; and Eric Andresen, the father of a gay Scout who was denied his Eagle Award.
Oliver said he found Scouting to be a refuge during the teen years when he was coming to terms with his sexual orientation. He did not reveal that he was gay until after he had received his Eagle Award.
He said the Scouts’ discriminatory policy forces gay youths to conceal their true identity.
“Tomorrow and the next day, you must do it again and again and again,” he said.
“It is time for this archaic policy to end.”
Andresen fought back tears as he talked about his 18-year-old son, Ryan, who completed the requirements to become an Eagle Scout but was denied the honor because of his sexual orientation.
“It hurts so much to witness what Ryan has been through, because he does not deserve it,” the father said
Those opposed to the policy gathered outside the Boy Scouts of America national headquarters on Walnut Hill Lane near MacArthur Boulevard in Irving.
No one from the Scouts came out to speak with the demonstrators or to address the issues they raised. One member of the gay-rights group brought the signatures inside the Scouts building and left them there.
The demonstration occurred as the Scouts’ Board of Directors is meeting for three days in Irving. The organization said last week that the board would consider a proposal to allow local Scout councils to determine whether to accept gay Scouts and gay leaders.
The board meetings are private. As we noted last week, there is no guarantee that the board will even take up the question of the gay ban, much less act to modify or rescind it.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama told CBS that he supports an end to the ban on gay Scouts.
“My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life,” he said.
“The Scouts are a great institution that are promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives. And I think nobody should be barred from that.”
A day earlier, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an Eagle Scout, said the no-gays policy should not be changed. To do so would be to capitulate to the whims of “popular culture,” he said.
“Hopefully the board will follow their historic position of keeping the Scouts strongly supportive of the values that make Scouting this very important and impactful organization,” the governor said.
“I think most people see absolutely no reason to change the position and neither do I.”
Will Oliver, a 20-year-old Eagle Scout who is gay, supports a lifting of the ban. (David Woo/Staff Photographer)
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